Archive for March 2014

Walt Thiessen and Bill Westmiller discuss ObamaCare changes, lawsuits and revisions, as well as new currency and monetary developments.

After testifying that March 31st was an absolute deadline for buying medical insurance on exchanges, the HHS announced a six-week "special" extension for those who check a website box, claiming they had problems enrolling.The administration probably won't meet its reduced subscription goals for ACA coverage, but it isn't releasing critical data regarding who has actually paid premiums, nor how many of the formerly 30-million uninsured are now insured. The co-hosts discuss all the conflicting numbers on the ACA website and polls showing that most of the uninsured don't even know that they are required to buy policies or enroll in MedicAid coverage. A Supreme Court hearing on religious exemptions from ObamaCare requirements was also discussed.

The IRS has made a ruling on the novel computer BitCoin currency, deciding that it isn't a currency at all, but rather "property", equivalent to buying a commodity, which requires users of BitCoin to report profits or losses on every transaction. This conflicts with prior demands from another agency that required BitCoin sellers to register as "currency exchange businesses".China is going to implement personal bankruptcy laws to recover their losses on loans that went to "ghost cities" and failed businesses. The action follows the loss of several billion yuan on a solar manufacturing company.There are new proposals to "reform" Fannie and Freddie mortgage institutions, while the Federal Housing Agency imposed new fines on banks that issued risky housing loans to comply with federal regulations. The host discuss the role of the FEDeral Reserve System in bailing out the two quasi-government agencies by printing new money.

Four out of 19 cancer hospitals will not be covered by ObamaCare plans and some cancer drugs will cost patients up to $2,000 more every month. The Massachusetts Health Exchange, which served as a template for Obamacare, is still down and won't be active for another six months. Meanwhile, unions are still trying to get an exemption for their lavish health plans, distinct from individual or employer programs.

Senator Rand Paul got standing ovations from a Berkeley audience, demanding a new committee to curb NSA abuses and "watch the watchers". New Snowden documents reveal another NSA program: "MYSTIC" scoops up all phone communications in selected foreign countries, keeping them for up to thirty days. British ministers confess that the Snowden revelations have "dwarfed" the meagre reports they had been receiving from GCHQ. The U.S. House is on the verge of introducing legislation to ban NSA bulk data collection.

New FED Chair Janet Yellen says "no more thresholds" to indicate when national banks will start increasing interest rates. They'll look at all their numbers and do whatever they please. A half-dozen foreign countries are conducting a "fire-sale" of the U.S. Treasuries, either because of concern about arbitrary U.S. sanctions or the fading confidence in the Dollar as a standard reserve. Russia, in particular, is responding to U.S. sanctions against their Crimean "acquisition", which affect several prominent Russian politicians and corporations.

Is protectionism the solution to 'currency manipulation' by China? Is the FED 'manipulating currency' with Quantitative Easing?The hosts discuss the use of the term 'capitalism' as corporatism in progressive literature, as well as the historic and logical basis for corporate limited liability.

Latest news on the NSA: how the agency is using private viruses, netbots, and other types of malicious software to collect data on Americans.Senator Feinstein's hypocritical rant over CIA surveillance and manipulation of her staff's investigations, while applauding surveillance of average Americans.

Obamacare numbers: what we know the government knows about ACA 'enrollments', but isn't telling the public. The hosts discuss the 'moral hazard' inherent in any third-party insurance payment programs, whether by governments or employers.